Bonjour, Corsair
by Gerkyhen
Summary: It's like half of the complexity is buried underneath an avalanche. And the rest of the complications are already high as mountain peaks. It didn't start off complicated...but these things always get more difficult.
1. Chapter 1

Bonjour, Corsair

* * *

_Woo, new story, new story! I promise I'll get back to work on Vendetta! soon but I just had to get this out here. This idea's been floating around in my head for a while now and now it's started. Yay! Chaptered fic. I hope you enjoy._

* * *

"Mei, oh we love you Mei!"

"Can, I have your autograph, **please**?"

"Mei, over here!"

Mei smiled wanly at the photographers nearby as she signed one of her fan's autographs. Honestly, Mei wasn't that keen on being bugged as she shopped, but she could never turn down a fan…or a photo for that matter. Better she be smiling straight into camera instead of being snapped looking 'moody' as the press would no doubt pin it.

"Mei, is your relationship with D'jok on the rocks?" Yelled one reporter.

Mei's face dropped immediately. "**No**." She snapped.

He'd hit a nerve and he knew it.

"Are you sure? Insiders have claimed you two look very distant recently!"

"And what insiders would they b-" Mei was cut off when a commotion began behind the crowd surrounding her. Suddenly the crowd parted and a man came hurtling through them, running past Mei. Mei watched him go, stunned and then turned around just in time to see a technoid robot hurtling straight for her. Technoid robots were not small, but they weren't slow either.

Mei stared at the oncoming threat, eyes wide and then she braced herself for the pain; the robot was upon her. Then the girl felt herself being yanked away by a firm hand on her elbow. When she next opened her eyes, she was in a shielded alcove with a man in front of her.

"Well that was a near miss." An accented voice spoke up.

The man in front of her was very good looking. He was taller than Mei, perhaps just over six foot, with high cheekbones and a pale complexion. His icy blue eyes were gazing at her in a friendly way. From his eyebrows, Mei could tell he was blond. However, his hair was covered by a red beanie hat. He had an eyebrow piercing and a friendly smile. The Snowkid's defender pinkened slightly.

"Um, yeah," she agreed. "Thank you for that. That robot was definitely going to hit me."

"I was talking about the reporter." Replied the stranger, before grinning.

"Oh," Mei mumbled. "Oh yeah, right."

"Those guys can be pretty shitty," continued the man. "But I know you can handle them. I was just passing by and thought to myself 'well…why **should** she have to handle them?'"

"Oh," Mei managed again, her eyes widening. She smiled gratefully at him. "Well thank you. I do appreciate it. Pity I'll have to meet them again when I go back out there though."

"Well…" the stranger looked thoughtful before he turned a smile upon her. "I know this place pretty well. If you are wanting to get back to your hotel, I could get you back a secret way?"

Mei felt herself stiffen slightly. "Uh…No, sorry. I don't exactly want to go walking off with some stranger. I hope you understand," she smiled imploringly at the man before her. "I really do appreciate you helping me out back there though."

"Mei, I am not going to hurt you," replied the man. "We do actually know each other, despite what you think."

Mei gave him an incredulous look. "What?" She questioned, bobbing her head forwards slightly.

"Well, we've never actually **spoken**, but…" the man itched the back of his neck. "It's Stevens? Of the Pirates? We have met…"

Mei's jaw dropped. _Stevens? Of the Pirates? _Mei had never seen him out of his mask and goggles before.

"I…uh…" Mei stared at him. "I'm sorry. I've just never seen you out of your…your uniform before and um…" she looked him up and down. "I didn't know that you looked like…"

Stevens smiled and raised his hand to wave. "Hi." He chuckled.

"Oh…my God," Mei blushed with embarrassment now. "I'm so sorry Stevens! I…I…"

"Hey, it is ok," Stevens cocked his head and smiled warmly. "People do not usually see me out of my uniform, I get it."

"Why **are** you out of your uniform?" Mei questioned. The girl had to admit, she found the Pirates rather interesting. Maybe because D'jok's father was one, but also because they were just so…**romantic** to her. Fighting for justice even if it went against the status quo. Yes, Mei was not afraid to admit she'd had quite a few dreams about joining the Pirates. Though…maybe she wouldn't admit that in front of Stevens.

"Technoid do not know what I look like," Stevens shrugged. "If they were so inclined I suppose they could run their data checkers over me- that way they'd be able to identify me as a pirate due to my prison ID tag, but I just make sure to lay low and keep quiet."

"Wow," Mei breathed. "So you just…walk around?"

Stevens laughed. It was a happy, warming sound and it pleased Mei, she smiled.

"Yeah, like normal people do," Stevens agreed. "Sometimes I even buy things from **shops**. Crazy right?"

Mei giggled coyly before catching hold of herself and coughing.

"So…want to get back to your hotel?" The Pirate in front of her questioned.

"**What**?" A thrill ran up Mei's spine and she blushed red.

Stevens' eyes widened. "I meant would you like me to guide you back to your hotel?" He amended.

"Oh," Mei tried to stop herself sagging. At the same time she also began mentally berating herself for both making a fool of herself and for even considering the 'other' option. "Um, yeah. If you wouldn't mind? That'd be awesome."

Stevens smiled at her again. "Of course I do not mind. Come on." He gestured for her to follow and then began leading her out of the alcove. Quickly, he ducked into a button shop. Mei followed, feeling bemused.

The clerk at the counter looked up expectantly. Stevens ignored him and walked towards one of the aisles. He pushed down hard on one of the shelves and a door suddenly appeared near the end of the shop.

"Hey!" The clerk yelped, looking confused and alarmed. "What the-?"

Stevens, without blinking, raised his wrist and clicked at his metal bracelet. There was a white flash and then the clerk fainted. Stevens turned and smiled at Mei before motioning for her to go first. He followed behind her.

"Memory wiping devices. Very helpful in a tight spot." He said, tapping his bracelet lightly.

"I'd quite like one of those." Mei replied and Stevens laughed again. Mei felt a buzz of happiness.

"Maybe I'll get you one," he replied, smiling down at her.

They were walking side by side down a well-lit metal corridor. The door behind them had closed and Mei felt every inch the pirate. The pair walked in amiable silence (Mei didn't feel the need to fill the silence with words. For some reason she felt very safe with Stevens and with this came the idea that she didn't need to pretend.) until they arrived at a section where the metal corridor split off into many different lanes.

"Where are you staying?" The Pirate enquired.

"Um, The Grand Genesis Hotel," Mei answered, she looked around at all the pathways. "You guys can't possibly know which corridor is which, surely? It must be impossible to memorise this."

"There is only one way to find out." Stevens replied before grinning at her and nodding in the direction of one of the tunnels.

Mei gave him a smirk and then headed off towards the tunnel. The corridor they were in was a very short walk. The pair walked for perhaps a minute before they reached a door. Mei pushed on it and it gave way easily. It was revealed that they were in another shop. A shop called 'Madame's Wears' that Mei knew for a fact was just opposite her hotel. She gasped.

Stevens casually tapped his bracelet so the clerk at the counter fainted and then he smiled down at Mei.

"That's amazing." Mei stated, staring out at her hotel.

"They can be handy," Stevens agreed. "In a pinch."

Mei turned to him. "Thank you so much Stevens. I really appreciate it."

Stevens smiled again and then gave her a two fingered salute. "No worries lover," he quipped, backing away towards the door they'd just come through. "Say hi to the rest of the Snowkids from me…though I doubt they'll believe you. Hopefully I will see you around."

"Hopefully." Mei returned her tone quite husky.

Stevens raised his eyebrows and smirked at her and then he was gone, the door shutting behind him. Mei managed then to start breathing again. At this point, the shop clerk woke up again.

"You alright love?" She questioned. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Mei ripped her eyes away from the -now flat- wall where the door had been and looked to the woman. She smiled.

"I'm great." She replied before waving and exiting the store. Her heart still beating a mile a minute.


	2. Chapter 2

Bonjour, Corsair

"Hey Mei! How was shopping?"

As Mei entered the hotel, she was greeted by a smiling Tia. The blonde waved and moved closer.

"Oh! Not very good I see." Tia nodded down at Mei's hands.

Confused, Mei's brow crumpled, and then she flexed her hands…there was nothing in them. Usually she came back to the hotel holding at least ten bags in each hand. _Oh no_ the teen cursed inwardly _I must have left them when Stevens grabbed me. _

"Um…" She looked up at Tia who was smiling at her still. "Yeah, no. Didn't go very well. Paparazzi and all that; put me off."

"Ah," Tia nodded. "Those guys can be annoying. I hope your day went alright though? Despite the lack of clothes?"

Mei smiled at her and then fell into step. The pair began walking to the elevator.

"Yeah, it was actually pretty good, I met-" She stalled.

Did she really want Tia to know about Stevens? Right now, it felt like a dream. Mei Kilas knew all about the tunnels under Genesis' main streets. The only people who knew that was she and the Pirates.

Tia was looking at her with interest. "Who'd you meet?" She enquired innocently.

Mei turned back to her, eyebrows raised. "Hm?" She replied.

Tia smiled, looking a little puzzled. "You said you met someone?"

"Oh!" Mei exclaimed. "Oh, oh yeah. I met, um, I met Sonny…briefly."

"Oh really?" Tia's brow creased even further and she watched Mei sceptically for a while. If there was one thing Tia definitely was, it was intuitive- she could tell Mei had just lied…but why? "That's…nice. Are you going to tell D'jok?"

Mei smiled widely at her. "Of course." She replied.

The two rode the elevator in silence for a while and then Tia turned to look at Mei again. "Mei…how are you and D'jok? I know the modelling has picked up quite a bit recently and you're very busy…" She trailed off meaningfully.

The whole team had heard Mei and D'jok arguing fiercely. It almost always started with D'jok trying to exercise his right as team captain; telling Mei she needed to attend training sessions more as she was a footballer first and a model second and then it would always end with the pair of them screaming tirades of hate at each other.

Mei stiffened slightly. "We'll work it out," she muttered. "He just needs to understand that I sometimes need some time away from the football…and from him."

Tia put a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder. "I'm sure everything will work out. It's not like we're in the middle of a cup anyway."

Mei nodded. "Exactly. I'll be at training all the time during the next cup! He just acts like I don't care at all, when obviously I do."

Tia squeezed her friend's shoulder. "Don't worry, we all know you do and D'jok does too, I'm sure of it."

Mei smiled at her friend and then opened her arms for a hug, which Tia reciprocated.

"You're the best Tia." Mei smiled.

Tia grinned at her. "I try," she replied.

The doors opened. "Oh and Micro-Ice has been on the flux candy, just a heads up."

Mei groaned. "Really? Who keeps giving him that stuf-"

"Mei and Tia! Hi! Want to come help me build a fort?" Micro-Ice bounced into view, exploding out of the living room and smiling widely at them.

Both Tia and Mei laughed.

"No Micro-Ice." Tia negated, chuckling.

"Awh!" The small boy moaned. "Why is everyone no fun around here?"

"You can build your fort later," Aarch's voice suddenly entered the equation. He came up behind Micro-Ice and slapped a hand onto his shoulder, smiling at the two females before him. "It's time for some training. Mei, you're back just in time."

Mei smiled at her coach.

"Right everyone, go get changed," Aarch exclaimed. "And Micro-Ice go wake Ahito up will you? I don't think sleeping under the radiator is a good idea."

Mei and Tia laughed and then began following Aarch to the holo-trainer as Micro-Ice rushed off to save Ahito from being burnt alive.

* * *

Later on, the full squad of the Snowkids were standing in the holo-trainer preparing for whatever training exercise Aarch had ready for them. Mei hadn't spoken to D'jok yet, but they'd exchanged a small smile between themselves- so the atmosphere amongst the team was a good one.

"Right then kids," Aarch's voice boomed out over the pitch, and the Snowkids tensed, preparing themselves. "Today's exercise is going to be about defending. Particularly, defending against **strikers**,"

A hologram of Luur appeared on the pitch- a few feet away from the Snowkids. He had a nasty grin on his face and the ball at his feet.

"One at a time, I want you all to have a go at tackling Luur. Ahito, you head to the goal to prepare for any shots that may result from a failure to successfully tackle Luur. Once we're done with Luur, we're going to move on through all the star strikers of respective teams. And **yes** even strikers need to be good at tackling D'jok and Micro-Ice,"

D'jok and Micro-Ice stopped messing about and immediately stood straight, grinning hastily.

"Thran, you're up first,"

The older twin gave the sky a thumbs up and then moved forwards. Luur rolled the ball forward slightly with one foot and then started running. Thran braced himself. Luur sent forwards the heat of Xenon and Thran was stuck in his bracing position. His team mates winced.

"You've got to attack these strikers head on!" Came Aarch's voice. "Mei, you go,"

Luur disappeared and then reappeared in his previous position. Mei breathed in deeply, watching him with determined eyes. The lizard man began running forwards, the ball at his feet. Mei ran to meet him. He tried to swerve out of her way, but she kept at him, finally managing to stick a foot in and sending the ball skirting away. The hologram roared aggressively.

"That's right Mei! Well done!" Aarch congratulated.

Mei smirked and strutted back to her team mates, who were smiling and cheering her.

"Great going Mei." D'jok smiled and Mei rewarded him with her own smile back.

It was Rocket's turn next. The midfielder barely allowed Luur to move before he had flipped behind him using the Breath and deftly kicked the ball clear of the alien's feet.

Soon enough everyone was growing used to tackling Luur head on. Everyone was aware, however, that hologram Luur couldn't actually compare to real Luur…with real Luur it always felt like you were going to have your ass whooped and your head bitten off…as Micro-Ice had so eloquently put it.

After Luur it was Warren. Everyone handled him with relative ease- the striker was growing older and D'jok and the others had watched his moves so many times that they knew them off by heart by now.

Then it was Sinedd. He proved a little tricky as his hologram would suddenly burst out into little spurts of skill. Mei, it appeared, was a natural at slide tackling him. D'jok too was good at getting the ball off his enemy…though not always in the 'legal' way. Tia, also, proved good at apprehending the ball of the Shadow striker. Micro-Ice, sadly, allowed Sinedd to get past him and the hologram shot hard, the ball flying into the net, through Ahito's hands.

Then it was the number nine Ryker Jaknok who Micro-Ice, for some reason, proved adept at tackling. It was clear though, who was the best at handling the strikers. Mei and Rocket were handling them all the best, closely followed by Mark.

The next striker however, wrecked up Mei's perfect record completely. Stevens appeared on the ball and Mei watched, entranced, as the hologram rolled its shoulders in preparation. He kicked the ball forward slightly and then paused, as if watching her. Mei's eyes widened and she found herself blushing, despite the fact she was well aware it was a hologram.

"Mei, what are you doing?" D'jok demanded as the hologram suddenly burst forward, kicking the ball lithely round the brunette.

Mei, with shocked eyes, turned and watched helplessly as Stevens blasted the ball into the bottom right corner of the net. There was silence and the rest of her team watched her in confusion.

She raised her hand apologetically. "S…sorry!" She called. "I zoned out."

"It happens!" Ahito called from the goal, before yawning loudly.

Mei sent a meek smile the goalkeeper's way and then began walking back to her team mates, her cheeks burning red. _Get a hold of yourself Mei! _She scolded herself.

"Are you ok?" Yuki asked once Mei reached them. "You've gone all red. Are you ill?"

Mei placed her hands on her cheeks and shook her head. "I don't think so," she replied. "Just a little worn out."

D'jok was watching her with a raised eyebrow. "We've only been training for 45 minutes." He remarked.

Mei's nose wrinkled in annoyance. "I **know**." She spat back.

The rest of the team went silent; they were used to these sorts of interactions by now, but that didn't make them any less awkward. Mei and D'jok didn't need much to be at each other's throats…not anymore. Thankfully, Aarch's voice rang out again, distracting everyone from the beginnings of the argument.

"Keep moving!" He called, and Mark went forth to meet Stevens.

* * *

After training, Mei rushed off quickly to have a shower- not in the mood to hang around near D'jok, who she still felt annoyed at. _Even so _the girl ripped off her training top and quickly followed with her bra, glowering at herself in the mirror _I was pretty stupid in training today; behaving like a smitten little school girl. Ridiculous. _She jumped into the shower, letting the warmth beat down on her.

Just outside of the bathroom she heard her room door open.

"Ooh, what's all this!"

It was Tia's voice. Mei began shampooing her long hair, half listening to her friend and half listening to the beat of the water against the tiles.

"Mei, you've got a lot of stuff on your bed!" Tia's voice rang out again. "And a little note too!"

Mei's eyes widened and she almost fell out of the shower. Wrapping a towel around her body she crashed out of the bathroom, shampoo still in her hair. On her bed was all the shopping bags she'd left.

Tia looked from them and back to her. "So you had an alright shopping day really." She remarked.

"Uh," Mei replied breathlessly. "Yeah…yeah. I must have forgot. You said there was a note?"

Tia handed Mei a small envelope. Mei ripped it open to reveal a little white card inside- upon it was writing:

_Just returning your stuff to you. _

_I briefly considered keeping one of the bags so I could have an excuse to see you again. _

_In fact, I may be holding a particularly lovely necklace you purchased. _

_Sorry, old habits die hard; I am a Pirate after all. _

_Meet me tomorrow outside the hotel and I'll gladly return it to you. _

_S _

Mei almost fainted with excitement.

"Who is it from?" Tia asked, looking slightly alarmed as Mei nearly swooned.

"Jus…" Mei paused and tried to regain control of her face. "Just a shop manager saying I left all my shopping bags in one of the changing rooms."

"Wow," Tia replied, looking sceptical once again. "These must be some pretty nice clothes; you look positively thrilled to have them back."

"They're… they're great," Mei agreed. A grin leapt back onto her face. "Totally great."


	3. Chapter 3

Bonjour, Corsair

The rest of that evening and the next day, Mei could barely contain her excitement. She constantly checked her holowatch something that, apparently, began to get on D'jok's nerves.

"What are you so excited about?" He asked his tone a tad too aggressive for so innocent a question.

D'jok and Mei had still not made up since their argument the previous day. It was now morning and the Snowkids were all gathered around the breakfast table. The mood immediately became tense as these words left their captain's mouth.

Mei tore her eyes away from her watch and then looked coolly over at her boyfriend.

"Maybe I'm not excited for anything," she returned. "Maybe I'm just curious as to the time."

"But you've been checking non-stop for the last hour or so!" D'jok returned.

"If it annoys you so much why don't you stop watching me?" Mei icily shot back.

D'jok looked surprised for a second and then he looked angry once again. He did not reply, instead going back to his food with more force. Mei watched him in distaste for a little while. They really were having trouble at the moment. At that moment, the girl felt nothing but dislike for her boyfriend. She was a little shocked by the strength of the feeling. Sure she'd been annoyed at him, even furious at times, but she'd never disliked him so much than she did at that moment.

"I'm going shopping." She declared, pushing her chair back and rising to her feet.

"Be back in time for training." D'jok said, looking up from his food and fixing her with a glare.

Mei returned the glare tenfold, her eyes narrowing in annoyance and then she departed. The rest of the Snowkids watched her leave with worried eyes. There was a moment of silence and then Micro-Ice glanced over at his best friend.

"D'jok buddy? You ok?"

D'jok threw up his hands aggressively. "**I'm **fine," he hissed. "It's her who's the problem."

Micro-Ice knew better than to pursue it and so he relented, going back to his food. The rest of the meal was eaten in relative silence. The argument they had just witnessed replayed in all their minds- the venom had not been lost on any of the other teenagers…least of all had it been lost on D'jok.

* * *

Mei stalked out of the room, her hands curling into fists as she did so. She had no idea why she was **so **angry with D'jok, but she was and that was that. She was just fed up of him constantly berating her, belittling her modelling, making her feel like she wasn't important…not when it came to football. D'jok would choose football over her, Mei knew that…and it really hurt her.

The brunette stepped into an elevator, not really sure where she was going. She'd not actually had the intention of going shopping that day. She just wanted to escape D'jok and his prying eyes.

It felt like the ginger still didn't trust her. After what? Over four years together!

As the elevator began going down, Mei clicked her holowatch. A picture of her and D'jok popped up; he had his arms wrapped around her waist and the pair of them were laughing. The defender felt a pang. Had they had a time like that at all recently? Mei didn't believe in giving up, but what if there was nothing to fight for anymore? She closed her eyes for a few moments and then switched the watch off- she didn't want anybody calling her. The metal walls of the elevator compressed her. She put a delicate, limp, hand to her head. She didn't want to be considering this alternative…she didn't want to split up with D'jok. She didn't want to **want to** split up with him. The thing was Mei didn't know if she wanted to…not anymore.

_Don't think about this now _the girl coerced herself _Think about it later. You're angry at D'jok right now…stuff like this isn't right to think about with an angry mind. _

Mei knew that part of that was true, but she also knew that when these thoughts started floating around more often, it was maybe time to start confronting them. Running away from her problems was not usually the sort of thing Mei Kilas did.

The doors opened and Mei stepped out into the foyer. It was void of people. Outside the artificial lighting of Genesis was shining brightly. Mei rarely felt nostalgic for her home planet, but at that moment the girl wanted nothing more than to be wrapped up tight in a blanket watching as snow fell lazily down from the sky. Nothing was scary on Akillian, not really. Everything could be sorted. You didn't have huge relationship issues on Akillian.

You also didn't have good looking Pirates dropping by to deliver necklaces though. Mei's eyes widened in delight when she noticed Stevens arrive outside the hotel. He walked with a swagger that Mei found ridiculously attractive. The girl suddenly blushed and darted to the side, hoping that the Pirate hadn't seen her through the glass doors and windows of the hotel. She was being ridiculous. Stevens was being very nice, delivering her necklace, but that was all he was doing.

_You're just acting like this because of D'jok _she told herself _D'jok's letting you down right now and you're feeling lonely. Don't do anything stupid. _Feeling bad for even considering that option, the girl brushed feverishly at her clothes and then began towards the door.

Stevens was leaning under the shadow of a tree when she exited the hotel. His head was down and he almost looked like he was sleeping. Mei watched him in confusion for a while and then glanced around, finally spotting a technoid platoon leaving the area. Once they'd gone, the man looked up and his mouth split into a happy grin when he saw her.

"Hello Mei," he greeted. "Fine day so far, is it not?"

Mei tried hard to rein her own happy smile in, but she did not succeed. She stepped closer. "It's really nice," she agreed. "Though I have been missing the snow on Akillian recently."

"Ah the sentimental feelings of homesickness. I have found that I romanticize my own planet a fair bit while I am not there and then, when I return, I remember why I left in the first place," Stevens moved closer too. He was wearing a blue beanie hat today- paired with a white t-shirt, blue and black jacket and black trousers.

Mei felt curious about where Stevens' planet was. It was just another thing that the girl did not know about the Pirate. She was just about to ask, when he continued.

"Though I am sure, Akillian is just as wonderful as you remember it to be," he then dug into his jacket pocket and retrieved the necklace he had promised.

He held it up and it glinted in the artificial lighting; a small blue gem stone on a silver chain.

"This is quite beautiful," he commented and then he looked past the jewellery to her. "It matches your eyes."

Mei felt her face heat up and her heart beat increase. The Pirate held the chain delicately and Mei wondered whether he was going to put it on her. Whether she would have to move her hair to the side so that he could properly slip it over her, whether she would feel the faint brush of his fingers upon her neck as he fastened the clasp. But Stevens did not put the necklace on her; he instead offered it to her, smiling kindly.

Mei, hiding her disappointment and anger at herself for being disappointed, reached out a hand to take the necklace. Stevens dropped it into her hand and Mei curled her fingers around it.

"Thank you so much," she managed. "You didn't have to go through all this trouble."

"I wanted to," Stevens replied and then he cocked his head slightly. "I know it is quite early, but would you like to come to lunch with me? Unless you have training of course…"

Mei's eyes widened with happiness. "I don't have training," she blurted. "Of course I'll come! Though it is perhaps too early for lunch, maybe we should name this little endeavour 'brunch'?"

Stevens laughed his hearty laugh. "Ok, brunch it is then!"

Mei smiled happily at him. Forgetting all at once her boyfriend and team mates in the building behind her. She was caught in this moment, this happy moment.


	4. Chapter 4

Bonjour, Corsair

* * *

_Thanks for the reviews and favourites so far guys! They really mean a lot!  
_

* * *

A little bit after breakfast, Tia decided she would go talk to D'jok. After Mei had stormed out, the rest of the Snowkids had eaten their breakfast in silence until D'jok, too, had left the room. The boy was obviously bothered by his interaction with Mei.

Now Tia was sitting on the bed next to a disheartened looking D'jok, who was staring at his hands.

"I…I just don't know anymore," he muttered. "Everything I say seems to annoy her one way or the other."

Tia pulled a sympathetic face. "I know you don't mean to bug her D'jok. I think she's just very emotional right now, what with the stress from her modelling combining with her need to be at training everyday-"

"But that's the thing!" D'jok turned to look at his team mate, more earnest now. "She's a **footballer**. That's the path **she **picked! Despite all the urges from her mother to pick modelling as her main goal, she picked football. So why now is she letting football fall behind?"

Tia watched D'jok for a moment before replying. "So is this all just about football to you? Do you think that's the issue?"

She could tell from the look in D'jok's eyes that he knew there was more to it than that. Mei not attending certain training sessions, or turning up late…that wasn't the only reason their relationship was becoming strained. He lied though, looking up at the blonde before him.

"Yes," he stated. "If she'd just turn up more often and took it more seriously, I wouldn't have to scold her. I **am **the captain after all." He looked sad.

Tia got to her feet. "D'jok, if you need to talk about anything to do with Mei, you know where I am."

"…sure." The red-head replied, looking once again at his hands.

Tia gave him a long look and then headed to the door. The midfielder was sure D'jok and Mei could sort their relationship out. Sometimes relationships became difficult- Tia knew this more than anyone. Her friends just needed to sit down and talk it out. **Argue **if that was what was needed, but argue properly. They needed to face their issues. Part of Tia wondered why this hadn't happened already; D'jok and Mei were usually both such confrontational, aggressive people, willing to hand out truths, no matter how hard-hitting. Tia's mind went back to the bags on Mei's bed and the reaction the girl had had to them. A pit of unease settled in the blonde's stomach.

* * *

Stevens and Mei were sitting in a cosy little bistro café. There were a few people in there besides them, and a low drone of chatter hung in the air. There was a scent of delicious food wafting from the kitchen behind Stevens and Mei felt at peace. The man opposite her smiled as he re-seated himself, handing her a drink he'd just paid for at the bar.

"Thank you." Mei murmured.

"No worries," Stevens replied breezily and then he leant back in his chair. "So Mei, tell me about yourself."

"Hm?" Mei sipped on her straw in what she hoped was a beguiling way, her eyes on the Pirate before her.

"Well I do not actually know much about you, save for what you read in magazines,"

At that moment a fan came rushing up to Mei, holding a magazine with the Snowkid's smiling face on the front. Mei signed the cover with a charming smile and then looked back to Stevens. The pair of them laughed.

"What do you want to know?" Mei enquired.

Stevens twirled the straw in his drink around with one finger, his eyes on her face still. "Well had you always wanted to play football? For example."

"Always," Mei nodded her head determinedly. "Despite other people's…opinions on the sport, I've always adored it."

Stevens nodded, seemingly pleased with this answer. However as he nodded, Mei felt a cold feeling come over her. She put her hand on her bare forearms, glancing to the side.

"But…sometimes I wonder…" She muttered.

Stevens' brow creased momentarily and he cocked his head. "Wonder what?"

Mei looked up at him, her lips pressed together and words suddenly came tumbling out of them, almost tripping over themselves in their eagerness to reach the outside world.

"Whether I've made the right choice. I mean, football **is **my one true passion, but I do love fashion and modelling too. It'll never take over football for me, but…sometimes certain people make me feel like I already allow that to happen."

Stevens' was watching her as she spoke, taking her words in. "I can tell football is your passion, you play with much vigour. Do not ever doubt your own passions, even when others doubt them for you- that is what I always tell myself anyway,"

Mei looked down and nodded. When she looked back up, Stevens was still looking at her, a grin on his face now.

"You are a good player," he shrugged and then he looked to the side. "Though maybe not as good as me."

Mei stopped chewing on her bottom lip immediately, her eyes widening. "…what?" She questioned a little outstanded.

Stevens shrugged modestly and then looked back to her, an eyebrow raised and a naughty smirk on his lips. "I distinctly remember you cowering as I ran towards you."

Mei's mouth dropped open and it took a moment for her to formulate a response. "I **don't **cower." She shot back.

Stevens' expression became one of faux confusion and he leant forward slightly. "Then why were you cowering in the match against us?"

Briefly Mei wondered why all the male star players in the world of Galactik Football felt the need to boast about their skills, but when she looked at Stevens she could tell he was joking, poking fun at both her and himself. He wasn't like D'jok, or Sinedd or even people like Warren, he didn't have anything to prove to anyone. Mei sat up properly, rising to the challenge.

"I'm pretty sure you've never beaten the Snowkids actually." She hit back.

Stevens rolled his eyes cheekily. "Details, details." He responded, waving his hand in an offhand way.

Mei held back a laugh, keeping up with her mock anger. "And I actually remember getting a great tackle against you!"

Stevens pulled a sceptical look. "Are you sure that was me? I cannot recall anything like that ever happening."

Mei was just about to reply when their food arrived. Stevens smiled at the waitress, who blushed in response, and then he looked back at Mei.

"Shall we leave the football talk till after 'brunch' then?"

"Fine," Mei replied. "But you are so in denial."

Stevens chuckled and then raised his eyebrows.

* * *

A few hours later and Stevens and Mei had eventually left the restaurant. They'd chatted and laughed all through brunch and then stayed at the café for hours after, the conversation never dying, never losing steam. Now they were walking through the Pirate tunnels, still chatting and laughing. Stevens was regaling Mei with a story about the time he and his fellow Pirates had hid out in an 'abandoned' house to escape Technoid drones, only to find out it was very much occupied.

"This woman would just not stop hitting my friend on the head," Stevens laughed, recalling the memory. "At one point one of my other friends, Saya, she grabbed the woman's hand, forcing her to drop the pillow she'd been smacking Taglo with and then the woman just grabbed a book and smacked Saya as hard as she could. It was hilarious."

Mei giggled as they walked along, invigorated by the Pirates' charm and the easy conversation. "Did that not hurt Saya though?"

Stevens smiled, shaking his head slightly. "She has dealt with worse. If you are a Pirate and the worst injury you've suffered is a book to the head, then you are a lucky pirate indeed. But enough about me. I have never enjoyed talking about me much. Tell me some stories of your past."

Mei looked thoughtful as they continued along at a slow pace. "I don't know what you'd want to hear." She muttered.

Stevens was watching her, the expression on his face implying he was in no rush. Mei could take as long as she wanted. This made for a nice change. Mei liked that she didn't have to be **on**. She was just Mei when she was with Stevens. Not Mei the Galactik football star. The feeling she had when she was with Stevens was comparable to the feeling she had when she was with her team, just chilling out.

"Well, it's usually Micro-Ice we rely on for the funny antics," Mei began. "I remember this one time, we were all just hanging out on Akillian, sometime after the second Galactik cup and we heard an ice cream hover car. Mice about bust a lung yelling in delight and then he rushed off to go see it…ended up falling down every single stair leading down from the Planet Akillian bar," Mei laughed and went to brush her hair back. As she brought her hand up, it touched Stevens'. She paused in her story as a white hot heat flushed through her.

She turned to look at Stevens, he was looking down at his hand and then he looked up at Mei. Something flashed in the Pirates' eyes and then he pinned the girl against the metal wall, his lips meeting hers. A bolt of happiness and elation flittered up Mei's spine as Stevens' soft lips melted against her own. He brought his hands up to be either side of her head and Mei was just pressing in harder when the blonde man fell away. Breathing heavily, back against the wall, Mei looked at him, confused. Stevens too was breathing heavily and Mei couldn't help but think he looked even more beautiful than usual with his lips swollen from kissing. His hat had fallen off and his messy blonde spikes were falling about everywhere. Mei wanted to kiss him again.

"I…I am sorry," Stevens muttered and his eyes looked slightly larger than usual, as if he was stunned with his own actions. "I don't know why I did that. You have D'jok, I know that. I…"

"I liked it." Mei interrupted.

Stevens looked at her, the look of alarm on his face seemingly increasing. "I am sorry," he repeated. He grabbed his hat and then gave her an anxious grin. "I…I will see you around Mei-"

"Stevens-" Mei uttered, but the Pirate turned around.

"You should not have trouble from here, getting out." He murmured and then he began to walk off.

Mei watched his retreating back and then looked down the corridor to her destination. She bit at her bottom lip, she could still feel his lips pressed upon hers.


	5. Chapter 5

Bonjour, Corsair

* * *

_Insanely short chapter, because I feel like bits I was planning on including in this chapter would fit better in the next chapter. Hope its ok. Thanks for the reviews, favourites and follows!  
_

* * *

When Mei got back, she was in a daze. A rush of different feelings were careering through her body. She felt guilt, obviously, she was still with D'jok and she had kissed another man. Not only that, she was feeling guilt not because she had done it, but because she felt guilty for NOT feeling guilty. Mainly the girl felt happy. She felt like she was floating really. Stevens may have pulled away at the end, but he had still initiated it. He had had the same feelings as she had. Dimly Mei was aware she was stepping into dangerous territory now; it was no longer a harmless crush, it was something more. But the girl still wanted to kiss Stevens again, to feel his hands on her body. When she flitted into the Snowkids' lounge, she was met by the sight of Tia, who watched, with raised eyebrows, as her friend entered the room.

"You seem happy." The girl commented her tone level though there was a pit of suspicion and worry opening in her stomach.

Mei smiled graciously at the other girl. In actuality, the girl wanted to **gush**. She wanted to squeal about Stevens as Tia laughed and congratulated her, but that wasn't going to happen. Mei had never been a cheater...she'd been cheated on however; she knew that nobody would accept this new development. Really...Mei shouldn't be accepting it so readily. She knew that. But she'd pushed D'jok as far from her thoughts as possible.

"Yeah," she replied to Tia. "Shopping will do that."

"No bags again," Tia replied.

Mei didn't respond, instead sitting herself down in front of the TV.

"I'm surprised you're so happy- have you and D'jok talked?"

Mei frowned, her brow crumpling. "Um no...no not yet."

Tia brightened slightly. "But you're going to?"

Mei glanced at her friend and then stared down at her hands. She was coming out of her pink and red world now- reality was here.

"I guess." She replied.

"D'jok's sorry Mei," Tia persisted. "I don't think he means to upset you."

Mei's heart twinged. "Mm." She commented non-committedly.

Tia was looking at her. Mei kept her gaze on the telly; not willing to meet her friend's piercing eyes.

"You'll get through this you know Mei," Tia murmured. "You guys can make it."

Mei's lip wobbled and then she got to her feet.

"When's training?"

Tia gave her friend a long look before replying. "It's in around an hour."

Mei nodded, feeling a bit numb now, and then she stumbled from the room.

The girl was actually unsure on where she was heading, that was until she bumped into D'jok...

"Oh!" He exclaimed, staggering back slightly. "Mei!" He sounded shocked to see her.

Once again Mei's heart twinged.

"Hello D'jok." She mumbled.

"Mei, I've been meaning to talk to you actually," he sounded so earnest.

Mei could barely bring herself to life her eyes to look at him. It felt all too evil now, what she had done. In the face of her boyfriend, the sin became real.

"I…I wanted to apologise," D'jok shuffled and he raised his hand to scratch the back of his neck. "I know you feel like I pester you-"

"That's not it." Mei interrupted, but she did not continue her sentence so, after a while of silence, D'jok continued.

"Well, I, uh I just wanted to say I don't mean to annoy you. I know our relationship isn't just based all around football. Do you want to go out, after training I mean? For dinner or something?"

Mei looked up and she had to stop her face from crumpling. Her lips were still tingling from what she had been doing a mere half an hour ago.

"Yeah, sure," she tried to smile. It was a fake smile, it didn't reach her eyes. "That'd be lovely. Good idea D'jok."

"And we can talk everything through," D'jok continued, smiling now. "I think we've just let everything spiral out of control you know? Everything just seemingly got so big. The arguments don't mean anything. I know I don't mean anything I say in them."

Mei nodded. "No, me either." She lied.

D'jok lent down and kissed her lightly on the lips. Mei's heart did flips, but she wasn't sure that was to do with the fact it was D'jok, or the fact she felt like she was going to be sick.

"So, you'll be at training?" D'jok straightened and smiled at her.

Mei stiffened immediately. "Yes," she muttered. "I always am."

D'jok sensed the change in atmosphere. "I didn't mean…" he trailed off. "C'mon Mei don't get like that, I wasn't trying to imply anything."

"I'm not getting like anything." Mei snapped back, turning away now.

"Mei-" D'jok uttered, but Mei stalked away.

She **knew **she was being unreasonable. That had been a throwaway comment from her boyfriend, her boyfriend who obviously wanted to try and sort all the arguments out. She felt insanely guilty now- it was clawing at her chest, ripping at her heart and lungs, making it hard to breathe. What had she done? Part of her, an unfair part of her, was blaming D'jok for the kiss. Claiming he had driven her to it, but she knew that wasn't true. Tears sprang into Mei's eyes and she blinked them away ferociously. Her mind drifted back to Stevens and despite the intense feeling of guilt that accompanied the thought of him; there was also a feeling of happiness. She'd fallen in deep now, and the girl wasn't sure of how to climb out.


	6. Chapter 6

Bonjour, Corsair

Once again training was awkward as a result of D'jok and Mei. D'jok's glumness at his girlfriend's attitude had transformed into anger and annoyance, while Mei's defiant fury had changed into defensive sadness. Neither of them were exactly making for the best people to talk to at the moment…nor the best footballers to play with.

"D'jok what are you doing?" Aarch's voice reigned down over the pitch as, yet again, D'jok powered an angry shot at the goal instead of passing to an unmarked Micro-Ice.

The red-head did not reply, opting instead to glower angrily at the ground. The rest of the Snowkids, excluding Mei, gave D'jok incredulous, confused or annoyed looks, but there was no real time to pause. The holographic Kernor had caught D'jok's shot on goal with ease, and the ball was now progressing down the field towards the Snowkid's half. The Ryker number nine skilled past Rocket and passed to another Ryker before Tia could intervene. Now 200 tons of metal was powering towards Mei and Thran. Thran was forced to jump aside as one of the huge aliens ran straight for him. Mei, meanwhile, decided to snap into action. The girl ran forwards and lunged…she missed the ball however and connected with the Ryker's feet.

"**Foul**!" Came Clamp's voice and the Ryker got back to her feet as the other Snowkids gathered closer.

The foul Mei had given away was just outside of the goalkeeper's box, a dangerous place indeed. D'jok, Rocket, Mei and Thran formed a wall and waited as the Ryker took a few steps backwards, considering her strategy. Mei ignored the looks Tia was giving her. Then the Ryker shot, the ball blasted over everyone's heads, spiralling into the net.

The Snowkids sagged.

"For **goodness **sake!" D'jok raged, stomping aggressively on the ground, his face furious. He turned to Mei, shoving Thran out of the way. "Way to go Mei, we're losing now."

"It was an accident." Mei growled back.

"D'jok calm down," Micro-Ice tried to intervene. "It's just a practice match-"

"Practice match or not, we should all be trying our hardest and I don't think **she **is." D'jok gestured at his girlfriend.

"Yes I am!" Mei retorted her voice strained. "How dare you? You're playing terribly so you choose to take it out on me!"

"I'm not taking anything out on you!" D'jok yelled back, and he **was **yelling now. "I'm trying to play football, which is what we're **here **for! Though that's obviously **never **the first thing on **your** mind!"

"You don't know anything about what's going on in my mind!" Mei screeched back. She felt hot tears prick at her eyes, but she blinked them back, feeling furious now.

"Well I can tell its never bloody football!" D'jok roared. "What are you daydreaming about today Mei? Modelling again? Why don't you just run off and show off about your new shampoo line?"

"D'jok," Rocket entered the fray, trying to placate his team mates. "That's a bit too far don't you think? Mei just made a mistake-"

"Like freaking always!" D'jok gunned through him. "Seriously, how long are we going to let her treat this team as a second thought?"

"I **don't **do that." Mei's voice cracked slightly.

"Well what do you do?" He rounded on her, still angry.

"Nothing that can appease you apparently!" Mei shouted. "I don't even know what you want from me! I turn up to training, I play and I play well. I don't know what the hell you want from me!"

"Really?" D'jok glowered at her, his face wrinkled with distaste. "Well why don't we just not continue this? If I'm such a bloody bother all the time, then why are we still together Mei? Huh? Tell me that!"

Mei's lip wobbled, her chin creased, her eyebrows knotted together and then she let out a sob and rushed off. Clamp, wisely, took away the surroundings of the holo-trainer and Mei took off running, hurtling from the training room before Aarch or any of the others could stop her. The rest of the Snowkids turned to look at D'jok, who's face looked a little lost now that Mei had left. Aarch, Dame Simbai and Clamp looked stunned. There was a moment of silence and then D'jok sloped off, his hands still balled into defiant fists, but there was a definite look of sadness to his face.

"What just happened?" Mark questioned the air, still looking shocked.

Tia stared at the door Mei had just exited through. "Something terrible." She breathed.

* * *

Mei's tears stained her pillow; she watched her own finger blankly as she toyed with a fraying piece of cloth. Her mind was a jumble, she felt like her heart was broken. The door to her room opened and Tia entered.

"Mei?"

Mei didn't look up, she felt sick to her stomach.

"Mei?" Tia's voice was soft, she stepped closer to Mei's bed and then Mei felt it sag as her friend sat down next to her. "Are you ok Mei?"

It took a while for the brunette to answer. "…no." She replied, her throat felt dry and she swallowed painfully.

Tia's expression was sad; she placed a hand on her friend's arm. "Mei, this'll work out. I'm sorry that D'jok said all those awful things, but he didn't mean it."

"He may not have meant all of it," Mei replied. "But he meant some of it." This Mei was sure of.

Her heart twinged and, for a second, the girl felt a thrill of anger at herself. What right did she have to be mad at D'jok? She was the one, after all, who had kissed someone else. Even so…the words D'jok had said reverberated in her mind; she bit her lip and closed her eyes, trying to stop the tears from remerging. Tia was quiet for a moment before speaking again.

"Would you like to go out Mei? Shopping maybe?"

Mei clutched at the pillow underneath her head. Tia was trying really hard and the girl was so grateful to have a best friend like her, but she felt too sad to pretend to be happy. Too annoyed and angry at herself to accept distraction techniques.

"No, I…" She turned and gave Tia a pathetic look. "I sort of just want to sleep Tia, if that's ok."

Tia looked at her for a long time, her expression unreadable and then she smiled kindly. "Ok Mei." She got to her feet.

"Tia," Mei sat up slightly and Tia cocked her head inquisitively at her. "Thank you." Mei choked out.

Tia moved forwards and wrapped the defender into a hug. "It'll be ok." She whispered and then she left the room.

Mei closed her eyes.

* * *

At some point or another, the girl must have actually fallen asleep because she opened her eyes to see it was now night time. Confused and disorientated, the girl glanced at her alarm clock only to see it was about 12am. Outside of her room there was a crashing sound and giggling, it seemed that D'jok had gone out without her, probably with Micro-Ice. Since she had gone to sleep so early, the brunette was no longer feeling tired. She sat up and stretched slightly, feeling the muscles in her back tighten. She was feeling a bit achy since she hadn't had a shower after training like she usually did. She glanced over at Tia's bed, but did not see the other girl's blonde hair…she was probably sleeping over in Rocket's room tonight. Mei felt her heart squeeze slightly and then she swung her feet over the side of the bed. She was just about to stand when a thump against the glass doors to her balcony startled her. She fell to the side slightly, feeling fearful. The laughter outside in the corridors was draining away. Mei felt alone. There was a thump again, and Mei felt another thrill of fear. She peered through the darkness trying to see what was out there. Carefully she extended her arm out and switched on her bedside lamp. The room became illuminated, but there didn't seem to be anything on her balcony. Mei stared at it, trying to decipher what could be making the noise. There wasn't wind on Genesis so that ruled that out, she'd have seen if a rock had been thrown. Her brow furrowed in confusion, the girl got to her feet and stepped closer to the glass doors and that's when Stevens suddenly appeared on the other side. Mei let out an almighty shriek and fell backwards with shock. On the other side of the door, Stevens' eyes widened and he made apologetic gestures. After regaining her dignity and sense of surroundings, Mei felt a thrill of happiness. Moving quickly, she opened the glass doors, letting Stevens enter. He was dressed in black and he had his goggles, that he usually wore on the pitch, on his forehead. There was a short silence and then Stevens waved slightly.

"Hello."

"What are you doing here?" Mei questioned immediately.

"I…" Stevens glanced around Mei's room, apparently asking himself the same question. "I just thought that maybe we should talk about what happened?"

"You mean the kiss?" Mei felt her heart swell as a faint pinkish tint attacked Stevens' cheeks.

He grinned at her nervously. "Yeah…that. Though we could talk about the nice food we had at the bistro café, if you wanted to."

"I told you Stevens," Mei smiled at him. "I liked it."

Despite himself, the Pirate let loose a quick smirk, but then his eyebrows knitted together and his expression looked pained.

"Mei, I pride myself on being an honourable person and kissing someone who is already with someone else, that is not honourable."

Mei gazed at him, her large eyes swimming with emotions. Stevens looked at her for a moment and then cocked his head.

"Are you alright?" He enquired.

Mei rushed forwards and then engulfed him into a hug, wrapping her arms around his waists and resting her head on his chest. A few tears made their way out of her eyes. Stevens didn't speak. After a while he responded to the hug, wrapping his arms around the girl. Mei felt safe in his arms.

They were both quiet.


	7. Chapter 7

Bonjour, Corsair

Mei awoke. Artificial sunlight was filtering in through her balcony doors, slightly illuminating her room. Stretching slightly, the girl looked over at the clock, it was only 6am. She was just about to turn over and go back to sleep when she noticed a presence in the chair to the side of the bed. It was Stevens. He had his jacket off and was tapping his fingers lightly on the arm of the chair, his foot up on his other leg. Mei bolted up, shocked.

"Stevens!" She gasped, trying to keep her voice down.

Stevens, who had apparently been lost in thought, looked at her, smiling. "Good morning." He greeted.

Mei gazed at him in shock for a little while, her brow creased with confusion. "What's…what's going on?" She eventually managed after a while of silence.

"Oh, you do not remember?" Stevens leant forward slightly on the chair. "I came by to talk to you last night and-"

"We didn't?" Mei flushed with colour, half delighted and half ashamed at the thoughts that entered her head.

Stevens watched her for a few seconds and then shook his head, a small smile on his lips. "No, no. We just talked for a little while and then you fell asleep, I put you back into the bed. I was about to leave, but you woke up just long enough to ask me to stay," the man spread his arms out. "So stay I did."

"Oh," murmured Mei, she brought her hand up to her hair and pushed it back. "Did you stay awake the whole night?" She asked.

Stevens shrugged. "Force of habit," he replied. "I felt like I was on watch duty." He laughed lightly.

"Protecting me." Mei added and then she smiled, feeling warmed by this idea.

"I guess you could say that," Stevens agreed. "You did not look like you slept fitfully Mei; your brow was creased as you slept-"

"You watched me sleep?" Mei interrupted. Instead of feeling disturbed the girl just felt rather peaceful, it was nice to know she had someone with her.

Stevens, however, seemed to think she **was **disturbed. "I did not stand over your bed or anything like that," he quickly negated. "No just, occasionally, you would let out a whimper or a moan and I would direct my attention back to you."

Mei looked thoughtful. "I don't remember having a nightmare." She admitted truthfully.

"If one does not have a calm mind, nightmares can often invade." Stevens stated wisely.

Mei's mind immediately flashed to D'jok. If there was one thing Mei's mind wasn't, it was calm. A small swell of panic lit up in her chest as she thought of her situation with her current boyfriend, but it was only a small fire. For some reason, though he was part of the problem, Stevens being there calmed her, made her feel like everything might be alright.

"Thank you for staying," she muttered. "You didn't have to."

"I wanted to." Stevens said.

Mei stared at her hands for a while and then looked at the blonde man. "Why?" She asked, and her voice was full of desperate hope.

Stevens' ice blue eyes searched Mei's and then he opened his mouth. "Because I like you."

They were only four simple words, but to Mei they seemed like heaven. She clambered out of the bed and rushed over to him. Before the Pirate could move, she'd locked lips with him, pushing him back into the chair with one hand. Stevens didn't react at first, but eventually he returned the kiss, pushing forward, righting himself, moving Mei backwards. They only broke for air.

"This is not good." He murmured breathlessly.

Mei knew he was right. She knew what she was doing was pure wrong. But Stevens hadn't left had he? He was still there, he hadn't pushed her away.

"I liked it." She whispered back, repeating what she had said to him last night.

A small flicker of…something flashed across Stevens face, but then he shook his head.

"I am not usually without a plan," he admitted. "I'm usually the one who the rest of the team rely on to change things up, but with you Mei I do not know where I am going."

Mei looked at him. "I'm sorry." She said, feeling guilt radiate throughout her once again, but this time it was guilt at making Stevens a part of this. A part of Mei told her that Stevens was a grown man and if he wanted to leave, he could leave, but the other part of Mei, the self-deprecating part, told her she was cruel, cruel to have caught him in her web.

Thankfully, what Stevens said next eradicated her guilt…at least for a while.

"Do not apologise," he murmured. "I like it." He kissed her gently on the cheek and then got to his feet. Mei's hand was within his, he stared down at her soulfully. "Mei, I do not want you to be sad," he said. "And I have the feeling that I have some part to play in making you sad."

Mei shook her head furiously, hair falling into her face. "You're the only thing making me happy right now." She replied, and as she said it, she knew it was true.

"What about D'jok?" Stevens' voice sounded slightly strained.

Mei shook her head. She didn't want to think about D'jok. This was a different world, a different universe than D'jok. D'jok wasn't here. She would ignore him.

"Don't." She whispered and then she pressed her lips lightly against Stevens'.

Stevens' face still looked conflicted, but he nodded, apparently sensing Mei's mind-set. He rested his forehead against the girl's, looking into her eyes.

"This is all very complicated," he murmured. "I am not a fan of complicated things."

Mei's hands entwined with his and she shook her head. "Believe me, neither am I." She replied.

Stevens chuckled slightly and so did Mei, though she felt her heart twist.

"Are you leaving now?" She asked.

Stevens stayed motionless for a while. "A Pirate cannot stay in one place too long." He muttered after a beat of silence.

"I understand," Mei replied. "When can I see you again?"

"Against my better judgement," Stevens returned his lips close to hers. "I could see you tonight. We could meet up for a meal, if you wanted?"

"I do." Mei said.

Stevens nodded and then kissed her slowly on the lips before backing away. Their hands stayed entwined for a long time and then they drew apart.

"I will see you." He stated and then he clicked his bracelet and disappeared from view.

The balcony doors opened, but no gush of cold air radiated through, this was Genesis after all. After a few short moments, Mei could tell the Pirate was gone. She stayed stock still, a rush of emotions screeching through her at a million miles per hour. Eyes still fixed on the balcony door, the girl let out a laugh that half sounded like a choked sob. Mei couldn't tell which one it was.


	8. Chapter 8

Bonjour, Corsair

She stayed still for quite a long time, contemplating, but eventually Mei decided she needed to move. The room was big, but it felt too small, compressed and guilt and confusion was all around her, needling at her, clawing at her throat. So Mei left the room, heading for the main lounge. Hoping that maybe a little bit of TV may take her mind off of…it. What even was 'it'? Was 'it' the guilt or was 'it' Stevens? Was 'it' D'jok? Or maybe 'it' was her. Either way, Mei didn't want to think. When she entered the lounge however, she was met by the sight of Tia, curled up on the sofa, her eyes on the telly. Next to her was a duvet and a lump. Before Mei could leave the room, Tia had spotted her.

"Mei!" She exclaimed, sounding a little surprised. "You're up early."

Mei painted on a smile and nodded her head, entering the room fully. "I couldn't sleep." She replied.

"Oh no," Tia looked sympathetic. "D'jok and Micro-Ice didn't keep you up did they?"

"Huh?" Mei sat down next to her best friend, making sure not to meet the girl's eyes. "No. Why?"

"Because she wants to blame us for everything." Came a moaning voice from underneath the duvet.

For a split second, Mei worried it was D'jok, but the voice was not that of her boyfriend's and Micro-Ice's head popped out. He looked tired and ill, his hair messy. Tia clucked at him.

"You woke up Thran last night," she contended. "And don't play such the victim," she tapped him lightly on the arm. "It was your choice to go out drinking young man."

"No it wasn't!" Micro-Ice protested, hiding his face again. "D'jok needed me."

Mei felt a swell of dread and guilt at that statement. Tia, obviously sensing the heaviness that could be associated with what Micro-Ice had just said, tried to change the subject quickly. Micro-Ice did not speak again, obviously frozen as he too had realised what he'd just said.

"Well at any rate," Tia muttered, turning to look at Mei again. "What are your plans for today Mei? No training today remember?"

"Oh," Mei had forgotten. She blinked and brought a hand up to her head. "I'd forgotten that," she admitted. "I think I'm going to go out for dinner with a model friend later on." Better telling part of the truth than a whole lie, surely?

"That sounds nice." Tia smiled.

Mei smiled back, but she wanted the conversation off of her. "What about you Tia?" She enquired politely. "Any plans?"

"Rocket wants us to go see a movie," Tia replied, her eyes drifting back to the TV. "And then I think some of the others wanted to meet up for lunch," the girl's eyes flickered back to Mei. "Would you like to come?"

"Oh, um, no," Mei shook her head. "I'm not actually feeling too well," she got to her feet, suddenly feeling slightly panicked. "I might actually go back to bed." And then she hurried from the room.

Tia and Micro-Ice were silent as they listened to her pad away and then Micro-Ice fixed his friend with a perplexed look.

"What's up with her?" He enquired.

Tia shook her head, her eyes still on the door Mei had just departed through.

"Tia?" Micro-Ice sat up, obviously sensing something was up with the girl. "What's up?"

Tia pulled a face and then looked from the door to Micro-Ice. "I don't know," she mumbled, her gaze slipping back to the door. "Something's wrong with Mei. I have a bad feeling Micro-Ice."

Micro-Ice brought a hand up to his messy hair and sat up properly, looking at the door as if it would reveal all the secrets they needed to know.

"You suspect her of something?" He tried to guess, looking back to Tia.

Tia shifted uncomfortably. "I don't want to," she mumbled. "But something about the way Mei's been acting recently…" she trailed off and glanced to the side. Tia didn't like to be suspicious. She had enough jealousy and suspicion when it came to Rocket nowadays, she didn't need more, especially towards her best friend. But the midfielder also knew not to ignore her hunches.

Micro-Ice had obviously guessed at what Tia hadn't said, but implied, and he leapt up off the sofa.

"You think she might be…" he looked from side to side, making everything that little bit more dramatic. "**Cheating**?" He hissed this last part, looking mortified.

Tia could hardly believe she was having this conversation. "I…I don't know," she returned truthfully. "I'd like to think Mei would never do that…but the way she and D'jok have been with each other recently-"

"They'll work it out though," Micro-Ice interrupted her, looking cheerful before his face dropped. "Won't they?"

Tia didn't respond. Micro-Ice shook his head.

"This is unbelievable!" He announced. "I…You know what I'm going to do? I'm going incognito…I'll follow Mei around, see whether you're right."

"Micro-Ice, no!" Tia protested. "What if she catches you? She's having a hard enough time as it is. We shouldn't even be talking about this." The girl resolutely looked back to the TV screen.

Micro-Ice stayed looking at the door. It seemed his idea was now firmly implanted in his head.

* * *

The rest of the day passed relatively normally. Thankfully for Mei, the majority of the team were out for most of the day, as Tia had said they would be.

Mei had no idea where D'jok was, but she stayed in her room the majority of the time anyway, so it didn't matter. Unfortunately for the defender however, her team mates all seemed to return just as she was planning on going out for the evening. Another unfortunate thing was the fact that Mei had no idea what to wear or where she was supposed to be meeting Stevens. She presumed he would want to meet where they had met last time, but there was no guarantee. There was also the fact that the brunette didn't want to attract even more suspicion by dressing up all fancy. Mei wasn't stupid, she'd sensed the scepticism radiating off of Tia.

Sighing, the girl lay on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. _Well _she thought _I may as well get going_. She roused herself, getting to her feet and padding to her wardrobe. She decided on a frilly yellow vest top, a black leather jacket with quarter length sleeves and skinny jeans tucked into ankle boots. She looked nice, but not nice enough to elicit questions…at least she hoped.

Mei flicked a glance to her clock, it read to be 7pm. She wondered whether it was too early to head out, or whether that would seem too eager. Grimacing, she tapped up and down her room for a while, before eventually deciding to venture out. Swinging round, she pushed the button to open her door, only to be met by a sheepish looking Micro-Ice, who jumped back as he was revealed.

"Oh!" He exclaimed. "Hey…hey Mei!"

Mei gazed down at him in confusion, her mouth slightly open, and then she drew back, her eyebrows arching.

"Micro-Ice? What are you up to?" Her tone was challenging and Micro-Ice balked, falling backwards and performing a camp bow.

"Nothing special," he negated. "You look nice. Off out?"

Mei watched him for a while, her expression unreadable. "…yes." She returned.

"Well it just so happens that I'm heading out too!" The boy gave her a champion grin. "Do you wanna walk to the foyer together?"

Mei faked a smile back, though she felt a swell of suspicion in her chest. "Of course Micro-Ice." She returned.

Micro-Ice beamed at her and then the pair began making their way to the elevator.

"Going anywhere special then?" Micro-Ice questioned as they entered the lift. He pressed the button for the lowest floor.

"Just for dinner with a friend," Mei returned, she raised an eyebrow and looked at him. "I mentioned that earlier."

Micro-Ice was peering at her suspiciously, but he drew back as Mei turned to look at him properly.

"Oh…oh yeah!" He exclaimed, laughing. "Anyone we know?"

Mei shrugged. "No idea," she replied nonchalantly. "Probably not."

Micro-Ice gazed at her, his eyes narrowed. "Female? Male?"

Mei gave him a slightly perplexed look. "Why does it matter?" She put forth.

Micro-Ice shrugged in an over the top fashion. "It doesn't!" He yelped and then he began chuckling nervously, flashing her the occasional glance.

Mei shook her head at him, looking slightly confused, and then the elevator doors opened. The defender took off at a rapid pace and Micro-Ice had to cut short his laughing, jogging after her.

"Well, bye Micro-Ice." Mei said pointedly and then she swept through the doors.

Micro-Ice gave her a jaunty wave and then began walking off. Mei headed for the tree she'd met Stevens at before. Once she had turned her back, Micro-Ice stopped walking in the random direction he'd been walking in and flipped round. He leant against some railings, yanked a holo newspaper from a passerby, and then settled down to watch his team mate.

Mei was obviously waiting for someone. Micro-Ice watched her suspiciously, not paying attention to the angry person next to him, demanding his newspaper back.

"Excuse me young man-"

A blond man approached Mei. Micro-Ice slapped the newspaper into its original owner's hands and then crouched down below the railings, watching as the blond man and Mei chatted for a while. The two began walking off together. Dreading what he could be watching, Micro-Ice began following, taking care to keep out of sight.

Mei and her companion seemed to be having a nice time together; they were laughing a lot. Mei was doing most of the talking while her friend laughed. _If he is just her friend _Micro-Ice thought darkly. A trickling feeling of doom ran up and down his body. If Mei really was cheating, what was Micro-Ice going to do? Was he going to confront her? Would he tell D'jok?

"Dammit." The striker whispered, pinching at his own cheek as he watched Mei and her friend enter a restaurant.

"Hey, you're Micro-Ice!" Yelped a little girl, running up to him just as Mei exited the street. "You're my favourite Snowkid! Can I have an autograph?"

Micro-Ice pulled his eyes away from the restaurant and turned to his fan, smiling. "Course you can!" He exclaimed. "I'd love to give you an autograph!"

Inside the restaurant, Mei and Stevens were being seated, still chuckling as Mei finished up her story about the time she'd slipped on the runway.

"Here are your menus." Declared a posh looking waiter, placing them down on the table.

Stevens and Mei both smiled in thanks and then looked down at the menus. As silence descended, Mei glanced over her menu to look at Stevens. Her heart twinged, he was looking at her over his menu, eyes fond.

"We're…" she coughed. "We're never going to be able to order if we just keep looking at each other."

Stevens laughed in response. "I am sorry, but to be fair to me, you look lovely."

Mei blushed bright red and hid her face behind the menu, so that Stevens could no longer look at her, he began laughing again.

"Hey!"

A familiar voice. Mei's eyes widened in alarm and her blush receded immediately. She looked around only to be met by the sight of an angry looking Micro-Ice storming towards them.

"Oh God." She croaked, feeling as if her whole world was cracking around her.

Stevens looked from Mei to Micro-Ice, his expression unperturbed.

"Mei!" Micro-Ice reached the table and Mei looked up at him, her eyes pleading. "What do you think you're doing Mei?" The small striker demanded as soon as he was close enough. "What is this?"

Mei couldn't answer, she just stared at him. Stevens took it upon himself to answer for her.

"Is something wrong?" He enquired.

Micro-Ice rounded on him, looking thunderous. "Yeah something's wrong! Don't act like you don't know buddy. Mei's famous and everyone knows she's going out with D'jok! What do you think you're doing?"

Stevens' brow creased a little and for one moment Mei worried that he was going to yell back, but instead his expression became one of innocent confusion.

"I am having a meal with Mei." He answered.

"Yeah, I know!" Micro-Ice growled and the whole of the restaurant was looking at them now.

Mei could basically see the headlines: **Star defender caught cheating by her own team mate! **She tried to swallow but found she couldn't.

"What I'm asking is why you think that's ok? You thought you could get away with this? And Mei," Micro-Ice turned to his friend again. "I know you're having troubles with D'jok, but to-"

"Shut up Micro-Ice." Mei pleaded, her eyes darting round at the curious onlookers.

"I am sorry," Stevens intervened again now. "But I think Micro-Ice, my friend; you may have got the wrong end of the stick."

Micro-Ice turned to Stevens, looking sceptical. "You'd like that wouldn't you? You'd like to fob me-"

"Micro-Ice," Stevens spoke through him again, and a ghost of a smile made its way over his face. "Do you know who I am?"

Micro-Ice stared at him in confusion for a few seconds, his nose wrinkling and then he threw his hands up in the air.

"Yeah I know who you are! You're some crummy-"

"I believe you served me a drink not too long ago," Stevens overrode him. "You nearly sloshed it down my shirt. Though of course you would not remember that."

Micro-Ice just looked perplexed now. Mei felt a swell of gratitude rush up inside her. Stevens was lying for her? He was prepared to deny accusations for her? She found her voice again and though part of her told herself she was just digging an even deeper hole, she spoke up.

"Micro-Ice, remember that time you ran off to join the Pirates?" She pressured.

Micro-Ice scratched at his head. "Only because you guys told me," he returned. "Why…?" He turned to look at Stevens again; the man held his menu up in front of his face, up to his nose and raised an eyebrow. "Wait a minute!" Micro-Ice was looking at Stevens in a whole different way now. His eyes roamed down from his hair to his half covered face and then the penny dropped. "Are you Stevens?" He exclaimed, his voice way too loud.

"Micro-Ice!" Mei yelped slapping her hand over his mouth as Stevens glanced around trying to see whether it had clicked for anyone else.

Now that an argument had been avoided however, people had gone back to their meals. The restaurant was posh enough that Micro-Ice and Mei didn't stick out as Galactik stars. There were plenty of celebrities there, that was why Stevens had picked it. One wouldn't suspect a Pirate to venture into such a popular place.

Micro-Ice was now gazing at Stevens in adoration, his large blue eyes shining. "Wow!" He exclaimed once Mei had removed her hand. "You are, aren't you? I've never met one of your team up close!"

Stevens gave the boy a kind smile. "You seem to know my managers quite well." He remarked.

"Yeah!" Micro-Ice agreed. "Artie and Bennett! They're so cool. Though they're not as cool as you! The way you do that disappearing thing?"

"We might have to do a different disappearing thing soon," Mei growled through gritted teeth. "Thanks to your big mouth."

"Sorry!" Micro-Ice squeaked. "I don't know what I was thinking."

"I do." Mei returned and though she had no right to, she felt a surge of anger for the striker. She was the one in the wrong, because what Micro-Ice had accused her of was true, but **he **didn't know that.

Micro-Ice's facial expression became one of immeasurable guilt. "I'm so sorry Mei," he mumbled. "It's just, you and D'jok haven't been talking and-"

"Yeah, yeah," Mei felt uncomfortable. Stevens' icy coloured eyes were upon her face, studying her reactions. His expression was unreadable. "Keep it down Micro-Ice; I don't want a thousand journalists speculating about me."

"Sorry." Came Micro-Ice's meek reply.

_Yeah_ Mei thought dryly and she met Stevens' eyes from across the table _So am I. _


	9. Chapter 9

Bonjour, Corsair

* * *

_I am so sorry I haven't updated this for so long! I've been wanting to for ages, but I've found it hard to find a good time to sit down and just get to it! I hope you enjoy this chapter! Thank you for your reviews and I hope you continue to like this story!_

* * *

She was going to break up with D'jok. Mei stared at herself in the mirror; cool blue eyes gazed back at her, a mixture of emotions dancing within them. She was in the restaurant bathroom and she'd been in there for a while. The girl knew that, soon, Stevens would send someone to come see if she was ok. Was she ok? The girl glanced down at the basin below her and then looked back up at herself. Her brow was creased, her lips were slightly puckered. No. No she was not ok, but she also knew what she needed to do.

She had to break up with him.

Didn't she?

How long had she and D'jok been unhappy for? It had been before Stevens definitely. But before Stevens, Mei had always had the feeling that perhaps they could still work it out. They were D'jok and Mei- they came together, as a pair. It had been that way for eight years now. The idea of changing it…of being alone, it scared her.

But she wouldn't be alone.

Stevens was a new element. A scary, strange, fascinating and beautiful element. He'd entered her life and everything had changed -so fast that Mei could barely comprehend it. In a way, the defender was grateful to him, but on that same level she felt resentful towards herself. Was she just using Stevens' presence as an excuse not to try with D'jok anymore?

A girl came out of one of the toilets behind Mei and ventured over to the sinks. Mei watched her out of the corner of her eye and then looked back at herself in the mirror. She was probably coming across as extremely vain, but in reality Mei was just searching her own eyes, trying to understand herself. Mei Kilas was a very complicated individual, though it would never seem that way to an outsider. Sometimes the girl found it hard to even contemplate her own feelings and right now was one of those times.

_Do you love D'jok?_ She found herself asking this question now and her eyes narrowed. The girl next to her flashed her a strange look and then quickly exited the room, not bothering to dry her hands. Mei was silent. The tap that had just previously been used by the other girl dripped- as if counting the seconds. Suddenly Mei felt like her heart was crumpling. The girl drew back from the mirror slightly, as if stunned by what she'd just seen in her own eyes.

She loved D'jok.

But she wasn't in love with him.

One part of her felt huge relief and then the other part of her began needling away. _How convenient, _it said, _that you're not in love with D'jok now. _

Mei closed her eyes and the door to the bathroom opened once more. This time a timid looking waitress entered, her cheeks slightly flushed.

"Um…Miss? Your…uh…your date is becoming concerned. Are you quite alright? Not ill?"

'_Your date'_. Mei opened her eyes and turned a smile onto the waitress.

"I'm fine!" She said her tone faux. "Just got lost in my thoughts I guess. I'm sorry. Tell him I'll be right out."

The waitress bobbed her head and then left, the door swinging shut behind her. Mei's gaze flickered once more back to her image in the mirror and then she swiftly followed after.

Outside Stevens was waiting, a slightly worried expression on his face as he watched Mei approach him. After a while of chatting, Micro-Ice had left the pair of them alone. Safe in the -incorrect- knowledge that nothing was amiss. The majority of the evening had then be spent in good humour, though Mei had felt the occasional pang of tension and worry gnawing at her heart and gut throughout the meal.

She had hoped Stevens hadn't noticed, but, of course, he had. The Pirate was nothing if not perceptive and as she came closer to him now, she could tell that his worried expression was not completely due to her longevity in the bathroom.

"Hi!" She said upon reaching him, her tone too bright and her smile too wide.

Stevens looked at her and did not reply. His head was bent forward slightly and he was gazing at her with knowing, solemn eyes. Mei decided that she didn't want to talk about it. What she did with D'jok, that was her business. Stevens would probably try to dissuade her from breaking up with the Snowkid's captain. He'd probably blame himself- feel that he'd broken up the relationship.

It wasn't true. The relationship had been broken, cracked, long before Stevens had turned up. Kissing the Pirate had just been the final hammer blow that smashed the glass. That wasn't the Pirate's fault.

"Is something wrong?" The brunette cocked her head at him now.

Stevens breathed out from his nose and raised his chin slightly. "Mei-" He began, but Mei did not want it.

"Let's go for a walk," the defender decided. "I want to go for a walk."

There was a short beat of quiet between the pair of them and all that could be heard was the chattering of the restaurant guests and then Stevens glanced to the side.

"Ok," he agreed. "Let's go for a walk."

Mei smiled at him and then the pair exited the restaurant, appearing on the dark streets of Genesis Stadium. Of course, it wasn't truly dark, it never was on Genesis. Street lights lit nearly every area, but the place was essentially void of other people, save for the occasional drunkard on their way to a club, or someone walking home.

Mei and Stevens began walking along and even despite everything Mei felt a small buzz of happiness vibrate in her chest. Stevens made her happy. It was odd, but it was true. However, when she looked at Stevens she could see he was not happy. His eyebrows were crumpled and the sides of his mouth were pointed downwards.

"Hey,"

Stevens looked over at her and Mei pouted slightly before pushing at the sides his lips with her fingers.

"Don't look so glum."

Stevens gifted her with a small smile, only a small per cent of his usual charming grin. Mei sighed. She hated this. She was tearing Stevens down. She'd brought him into her horrible complicated web of lies and now he was feeling the pain. They stopped by a rail, overlooking the stars below them. Mei gazed at them and could not help but feel that perhaps her heart was as black as the space they saw before them. The stars could represent her friends, all of them falling into the great vacuum where her heart should be. She couldn't have a heart could she? If she was so willing to do this to someone? To so many people?

"I am sorry."

At these words, Mei jolted, and she looked over at Stevens. He too was looking down at the stars below them, but his expression was barely readable- a quirk of being a Pirate most likely.

"For…for what?" Mei genuinely did not know what the man could be apologising for.

All he had done was help her when she was sad, offer a shoulder, show her…affection. Nothing worth apologising for.

Stevens took a long time to respond.

"For doing this to you."

Mei wanted to grab him. To shake him. But she knew that would not work. She was quiet for a short moment.

"I'm going to break it off,"

The silence was now achingly loud. Mei's heart thumped in her chest as she awaited his answer.

"…oh."

That was all she got. A bit confused by this reaction, the brunette turned to look at him. The blond was still staring out towards the stars, his eyes sad.

"With D'jok," she added. "I'm breaking it off with D'jok."

This elicited a reaction. Stevens' eyes widened and he looked at her, his head snapping up quickly. Mei stared back at him a little horrified by the fact the man had thought she was attempting to finish their…their…thing. And she was more than a little horrified by his reaction. Did he really feel so bad about their relationship, so guilty, that he wouldn't argue if she attempted to stop it? Her heart hurt now. She wanted to kiss him. She was the sinful one in this, not him.

"Mei. Don't."

"I'm going to."

"Mei-"

"Stevens," the girl interrupted him and she glanced at the stars before looking back to him. "Remove yourself from the situation, hypothetically,"

Stevens looked at her with curious eyes. Mei held his gaze.

"Whether you were involved or not, I was not -am not- happy with D'jok-"

"Yes, but-"

Mei ploughed onwards, sure now about her feelings. "I'm going to break up with him," she breathed out heavily. It felt altogether horrible and amazing to say those words. She closed her eyes. "And…I….I want to know how you feel about me."

There was a long silence and Mei opened her eyes. Stevens was gazing at her with a pained expression.

"Mei," he murmured and the girl could not glean which emotion was in his voice.

She hoped against hope that it was not pity. God. She hoped it was not pity. Thankfully though, the man alleviated any fears as he stepped closer and held her chin in one hand, his icy blue eyes brimming with intensity.

"Pirates are not supposed to do things like this." His warm breath fanned over her face.

Mei closed her eyes and reached out, taking his other hand and placing it on her cheek. She rubbed into it slightly, feeling his calloused fingers on her soft skin, and then she opened her eyes again.

"Things like what?" She replied.

"Feelings. They are messy, dangerous," Stevens' brought his face closer to Mei's, his lips just above hers. "You are dangerous Mei."

Then his lips melted against hers and Mei slumped forward, bringing her arms around his waist. It was warm in his arms and Mei was happy again.


End file.
